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War in the West Beginner's Guide Chapter 2: User Interface
Toolbars At the top left of the map you will see three tabs labeled Map Information, Info Screens, and Administration. These are used to access the toolbar immediately below, with different options based on the selected tab. On each tab, from left to right:: Map Information tab # Toggle units on map: Show or hide units to allow inspection of fortifications, airstrips, and other map features # Zoom in # Zoom out # Toggle enemy hexes: Makes enemy hexes shaded red. Useful when there might not be a fully established front line to keep track of which individual hexes have not be captured yet # Toggle fort levels: Shows fort levels on the map hexes # Toggle rail damage info # Toggle unit modes/Isolated # Toggle logistics information # Toggle factory location # Show air recon levels: Good for keeping track on how up to date your reconnaisance is; an area shown to be empty last month might not be empty now (assuming fog of war is on) # Show interdiction levels # Show air directive targets: displays a visual representation of the missions from the Air Planning phase # Toggle weather graphics type: choose between ground only, air only, both, or neither # Toggle victory loctions: great for getting an idea of where you need to push to capture valuable victory points Info Screens tab # Order of Battle Screen: gives quick access to your order of battle for a hierarchy of HQs, support, and combat units # Losses screen: gives tallies of Axis & Allied casualties for this turn and the whole game # Production Screen: Gives information on manpower, vehicles, and equipment contributed by various nations within your faction, as well as supply production and storage # Victory screen: Shows current tally of victory points, and VP contributions of objections by turn and at the end of the game # Weather Screen: Shows a separate map with colored zones for ground weather, air weather, climate zones, and the quality of the road systems # Air doctrines: Allows you to schedule and prioritize your different air forces # Air directive summary: Provides information on the missions from your previous air execution phase # Reinforcement/Withdrawl schedule: Provides information on units that have been added to or removed from your forces during the course of the game # Commander's Report Screen: Gives filtered tables of all units in the field in a Microsoft Excel-style layout of information # Event Log: Shows events such as strategic bombing damage and freight data # Metrics Screen: Provides a line graph with different selectable variables # Airborne planning screen: provides information on available airborne units to plan paradrops Administration tab # Quit and exit to the main menu # Preferences # Game options # Save game # Show hotkey list Turn Status On the top right corner of the screen, you see information that is mostly related to the current game turn. On the top of the box you see the current date and game turn. Seven days passes with each turn. Think of turns more as "rounds", as both players perform their actions in one turn, Axis player first. Below is city information; if a city or an air base unit is selected, this line gives the city name (which can be clicked for a menu giving more detailed city information), a number in parentheses indicating the current percentage of required German troops in an occupied city, and icons showing whether the city has a port or air base. On the third line is your Motor Pool (MP), representing, depending on the current map mode selected, the available: * In most map modes: ** Vehicles indepots/vehicles needed in depots (vehicles in general pool) * In Naval or Amphibious Transport mode: ** (Western Allis) Transport vessels available/Cargo vessels available ** (Axis) Vessels available in the Atlantic/Vessels available in the Mediterranean * In Rail Mode: ** Strategic Movement Point (SMP) cost to embark a unit for transport by train The bottom line contains the following information: * Current Administrative points * In campaign scenarios, the last two numbers are Victory Points earned this turn and total victory points, while in non-campaign scenarios they are Axis VP and Allied VP respectively. Finally, to the left of the General Information box: * Soft factors: Toggles between various unit statistics, displaying a mark in the corner of your units that is colored between green (good) and red (bad). These factors are, (from good to bad): ** Experience (high to low) ** Supplies (high to low) ** Fuel (high to low) ** Ammo (high to low) ** Supply priority (4, 3, 2, 1, 0) ** Morale (high to low) ** Number of support units attached to a combat unit (low to high) ** Number of support units attached to a HQ unit (low to high) ** No soft factor selected * Depending on your current phase: ** Air Planning Phase: Execute Air Directives (advance to the Air Execution phase) ** Action phase: End this turn (advance to your opponent's Logistics phase)